zOMG Chronicles vol1 : The Rise of the Animated
by Random-Monotony
Summary: A new danger threatens all of a Gaia, one that can only be defeated if Gaians of every race band together to fight it. After a hate-filled war, could such a thing even be possible? T for violence and swearing.
1. Strangers on a Train

**Author's Note: **FACT: zOMG's original tutorial and opening scene is far superior to the start they have now (I've played it both ways). So naturally, I'm going to include the train and the Barton Sewers in my tale. Another note: this story will be spoilerific if you haven't played the game or you haven't finished the game. So if you don't want to know what happens in the game before you play, don't read. Also, this story includes two of my original characters from a previous Gaia fic called "The Quest for Love". It's not necessary to the story that you read it, but if you want to read it for some character background have at it… this was just a shameless plug. One more thing: Some of these quotes may seem awfully familiar. That's because a lot of the dialogue between my OCs and the NPCs of zOMG are taken directly from the game. However, I will try to change it up a little so… yeah.

Oh yeah, I'm unbetta'd so any mistakes are my own. Peace!

Bye now!

* * *

**Chapter One – Strangers on a Train**

The sun was shining, the birds were singing, there were probably a few untamed grunnies scampering about in the fields outside the city walls… it was just about the best goddamn day anyone could have asked for in Durem. Now if only I could get that blasted alarm clock to just shut up.

_Smack._

Silence.

I smile in lazy victory knowing that once again, man has triumphed over machine. And just as I am about to revel in the spoils of victory with a well deserved extra five minutes of sleep, the door to my room is so rudely opened and in barges an unwelcome visitor.

"We can go home!"

Shortly following the outburst of my temporary roommate, a body slams into my bed and I prop myself up on my elbows, giving the girl sprawled across my legs a well deserved glare.

"Lana… what the hell are you talking about?"

"The war, it's over!" Lana rolled over and smiled, placing her hands behind her head. We stayed like that for a moment, me looking at the girl like she was crazy as she ignored me, her head already half way back to Barton.

"Where did you hear this?" I asked, not ready to believe that the hysteria that had consumed all of Gaia for the past few weeks could be resolved so quickly. This was a war, for goodness sakes! Humans against Dark Elves… Zombies against Vampires… everyone against each other! The entire ordeal was a mess, a mess that was caused by some careless woman spouting apocalyptic nonsense.

"Everyone's talking about it," Lana said, sitting up to cross her legs, "They say the woman made a mistake."

"You don't say," I deadpan, "A charlatan, making false prophesies? The world as we know it is truly unraveling at the seams."

Lana gave me a hard look, she never enjoyed sarcasm. "It isn't _false; _it just… came out jumbled."

I still remain unconvinced and wait for Lana to continue. When she doesn't, I roll my eyes and give her the motion to continue with her fascinating tale of mystical mistakes. "Please, you have me hooked." I urge half-heartedly.

"Apparently, the old woman said that there _is _a great danger that will befall all Gaia…"

"Predictable." I snort, receiving a glare from Lana.

"An evil that can only be defeated if all Gaians band together _as_ _one _to defeat it."

Letting myself fall back into my mattress, I stare up at the ceiling blankly. There were so many holes in this woman's prediction. A great danger? That's vague enough to be anything. Gaians have seen more than their fair of danger throughout the years. Whether it be virus outbreaks or close encounters with aliens, I'm fairly certain that we have seen everything. And yet… no matter how hopeless things had gotten, Gaians had pulled through by working together. So in reality, this woman was only spouting out the obvious, following the patterns in history that have always repeated themselves and always will. However, there was something that had me worried. Even if this danger truly did exist, how could Gaians ever come together as they once did? The past few weeks had been filled with nothing but blood and chaos, surely these wounds would take time to heal. Would we place aside our differences as easily as we had before the war? There were so many uncertainties…

Shaking my head to get rid of such thoughts, I throw off the covers and place my feet on the ground. Sitting at the edge of the bed for a moment I take in a long, deep breath before looking over my shoulder at Lana. "Well what are we waiting for?" I say with a lopsided smile. "We've got to catch the first train to Barton."

The look of concern melted into a wide grin as Lana launched herself across the bed, throwing her arms around my neck as she hugged me tightly. "I'm so excited!" the girl squealed in my ear. Chuckling, I shook Lana off before rising to get my suitcase. It felt weird, thinking about leaving Durem. Even though we had not been here for long, the chaos of this Halloween seemed to make the very concept of time shatter. It would be nice to return to the wonderfully monotonous life back in Barton.

**-zomg-**

It wasn't long before I found myself in a crowded train, surrounded by Gaians of every race who were no doubt ready to go home after their displacement from the war. Animosity had been sacrificed for sanity as most of the patrons decided to simply ignore those of different races around them. However, the tentative peace in the train did not extend to common courtesy as a few patrons were denying another a place to sit simply because of their race. Just as I was about to get up to help a fallen vampire that had been rudely been tripped by a dark elf, the train jerked forward and we were on our way to Barton.

"Eleanor," Lana grabbed my sleeve and tugged gently, "just leave it."

I just stared down at the girl with slight shock. Little Lana, miss rainbows and sunshine and kiki kittiens, was telling me to back out of helping someone? Slowly, I took my seat on the bench next to Lana and watched as the vampire stood, brushing off his clothes before continuing on his way, only a glare being shot at the dark elf. I could clearly see the overwhelming urge to beat the crap out of the jerk, but with this already fragile truce, one misstep could break down everything into chaos once more. Sighing, I let myself sink as far as I could in the bench without falling out and put on my GO Phones and let the music take me out of this tension filled train and into some other world.

**-zomg-**

"Eleanor, wake up! We're almost there!" Lana shook me from unconsciousness and I twitched violently. I had just had the most disturbing dream… something about my alarm clock suddenly coming to life and attacking me… probably feeling some sort of weird guilt about always beating the crap out of that thing that morning. Nothing special, it was just a dream.

Looking out the window, I could see the familiar rolling hills that would soon disappear from view once we descended into the tunnel that marked the final stretch to Barton's Train Station. Smiling at Lana, I was about to ask her something when a sudden uproar came from the back of the train.

"Listen, you blood-sucking _leach_…"

A fist flew and a dark elf hit the floor. Looking back at Lana, I saw her eyes were transfixed on the scene, the horrors of the war clearly replaying in her mind's eye. A quick scan at the other passengers around me and I saw everyone had fallen into the same state, shocked by what was happening before them but too terrified to get involved. Returning my attention to the vampire who was now brutally punching the dark elf, I silently willed for someone to come in and intervene.

_Someone please, stand up. Stand up, stand up, stand up, just __**stand up. **_

"Leave him alone!"

The sound of my voice sounded foreign to even myself and I suddenly became aware of the fact that I was standing, now facing the scene of violence. The vampire stopped, bringing his fist to wipe off a splash of blood from his face before licking it clean.

"What was that, _human_?" The vampire asked venomously as he stood over the prone dark elf.

"W-well… I uh," I stammered rather eloquently. Lana just looked up at me as if I had grown a second head which then sprouted its very own midget Siamese twin and I suddenly felt like I had made a very, very bad mistake in getting involved. However, fear prevented me from moving as the vampire started to make his way down the aisle towards me. Upon reaching our bench, the vampire gripped my collar tightly and pulled me out into the aisle.

"You _what_?" The vampire snarled, baring his fangs in a way that pretty much confirmed my fears of my larynx being torn out within the next few seconds.

"I want you to… leave that dark elf alone." I somehow managed to choke out.

"Oh, I see. You humans side with the pointy-eared _freaks_." The vampire spat out as if he had just sipped on some bad blood, "You agree with them, huh? You think we're a bunch of blood sucking _monsters_, don't you?"

"I never said anything like that!"

"You didn't have to." With a growl, he brought me within an inch of his face as if I hadn't already been able to properly examine the fact that he had _fangs _and he wasn't afraid to use them. Standing there, terrified, I looked over at the dark elf who was still on the floor… probably unconscious.

"L-listen, that guy may have said some regrettable things…"

"I've had enough of this bullshit." Suddenly, the vampire drew back his fist. I noticed flecks of drying blood on his knuckles and closed my eyes, surrendering to the fact that no one would be stupid enough to repeat my mistake.

A second of stillness passed as my heart decided to trip over itself and tumble about my chest, somehow finding itself jammed in my windpipe and making it impossible later. A few moments passed and my heart cautiously looked out from its hiding place and wondered if it was safe to return to its normal pumping rate. Opening my eyes, I still saw that I was looking straight into the face of a wrathful vampire, his fist poised and ready to beat the crap out of me. However, there was something odd. He wasn't blinking anymore, almost as if…

Looking around the compartment, I saw that the passengers were still frozen, but now it was not out of fear… but because they actually were frozen in place. Outside, the train still carried onward, entering the tunnel that would lead us to Barton Station. Returning my attention to the vampire standing in front of me, I cautiously reached up to uncurl his fingers from my collar, watching for any sign that he might snap out of this weird trance and decide that he does indeed want to massacre me.

When I successfully release myself from his grip, I turn to Lana, whose eyes have remained transfixed in horror in the place I once dangled. "Lana?" I lean over to her and tap her shoulder. "Come on Lana, this is freaking me out." I keep tapping her shoulder when suddenly my hand went through her to touch the bench behind her.

"The hell!"

Stumbling backwards in my shock, I landed on the bench opposite of Lana's and my own, only to find that I wasn't just sitting on the bench. I was sitting _on _someone. Seeing the slightly faded form around me, I realized that my previous statement was false. I was sitting _in _someone. Letting out an undignified shriek of terror, I stumble back into the aisle and through the vampire.

"What the hell is going on?"

Only the train's lights responded to my startled cry as they began to flicker above me. A few flicks and they were gone, leaving me in a dark train car with translucent and intangible beings, one of which used to be my friend. Or where they even there? It was too dark to see in this blasted…

_BAM!_

The sound of impact hit me like a punch to the kidney and I jumped, looking wildly about for the source of the noise.

_BAM!_

Looking out the window, I saw a flicker of something fly past the train. Rushing over, I press myself against the window and squint out into the darkness when suddenly.

_Hissss!_

A mutant green fuzz ball with fangs latches onto the window, obviously trying to reach me through the glass.

_CRAAACK!_

Whirling around, I see a crack stretch across the window across from me and on the other side I see some winged creature trying to peck its way through the window. Soon, every window is under attack as various mutated creatures claw, bite, and scratch their way through the windows. Kneeling down, I wrap my arms around my knees and burry my head in them.

_This is all a dream, it' all a dream, all a…_

"_We must band together or all will perish!"_

"_Make way, Barton is under attack!"_

"_Reinforcements, we need help!"_

"_I'm late for my train…"_

"_Wake up."_

_W a k e U p . . ._

I wake with a gasp, feeling consciousness open the floodgates of suppressed sensations. Slowly, my eyes adjust to the dim florescent lighting and I find that I have been propped up against the wall of the train, although I have not moved from the floor. The more I become aware of my surroundings, the more a pulsating headache takes over my ability to think. What the hell _happened_ to me?

There was Lana, telling me the end of the war had come, the train, the vampi—

_Oh._

All of the details of my stupid heroic justice complex driven adventure suddenly clicked and I groaned, brining the heel of my hand to press into my temple to help ease the pain. As I concentrated on reducing the pulsating ache, more images leading up to my apparent passing out returned to me. Everyone disappeared. I was left alone with—whatever those _things _were in the tunnel. I thought I was going to die. Those voices…

What the hell was all of that? Some sort of head-trauma dream?

"Oh! You're awake!"

Opening my eyes slowly, I looked up and was greeted with a sight of a rather meek, borderline pathetic looking gentleman standing before me. Kneeling down before me, I noticed a bandage on his cheek and wondered absently what happened to him before returning my gaze to the eyes behind his rather dorky-looking glasses.

"How are you feeling?" He asks me slowly, as if he's concerned that my knock to the head has impaired my ability to comprehend speech.

"I'm fine—" I say quickly, "I just want the number of the freight train that crashed into my brain. I think I might sue."

The man chuckled and held out a hand to me.

"How do you feel about standing?" He asks me.

"It's just as fine as any posture," I answer dryly, "As to how I feel about actually _attempting _such a feat… let's give it a shot."

Taking the mystery gentleman's hand, I let him hoist me off the ground and somewhere during that small altitude change the world had suddenly decided to adopt some brand new tilt-o-whirl physics and I felt myself sway. Almost instantly, an arm was wrapped around my waist and I was brought to sit down in one of the benches. Looking up at the nerdy looking fellow pathetically, I waited for the world to stop spinning before I opened my mouth.

"That went…" I swallowed down some bile that had collected in the back of my throat, "better than expected."

"I wasn't expecting you to be awake yet," the man admitted, "In fact, I wasn't even expecting to see anyone on the train." He paused for a moment and I could see the corners of his eyes crinkle in amusement, "You're quite the brave one, aren't you?"

"Brave?" I laughed, thinking back on how freaking scaredhad been back when the vampire was threatening me. Hell, how _terrified _I had been during the Halloween hysterics.

"Well, you'd have to be… what with all of these Animated running wild out there. Most Gaians are too afraid to even leave their homes, let alone the walls of Barton."

"The what now?"

"You mean… you haven't heard?" The man said in a way that suddenly made me feel very stupid. "Inanimate objects coming to life and attacking people… I had better get you caught up on all of this or you won't stand a chance out there." The man paused before adding, "I'm Frank, by the way."

Well golly gee, this man knew how to make a first impression. Nothing says 'nice to meet you' like vague tales of people getting mortally wounded by their toasters. Were toasters involved in this? He did just say _inanimate objects_, he didn't specify. I am so confused right now.

"Um, yeah…" I say as I take his offered hand to give it a weak shake. "You had better get a move on that explaining thing as it seems rather important."

Frank paused for a moment as if he were trying to weigh his words, deciding what would be the best way to break the horrible news of some cataclysmic event that destroyed half of Gaia in the time it took me to return to the land of the living.

"Well it all started when—"

Suddenly, the train lurched violently and I reached out to grip onto the back of the bench in front of us. Looking over at Frank, I saw that he was returning his glasses to their proper place after being knocked off by the sudden movement.

"Is it just me, or did this train just start speeding up?"

Looking out the window, I could barely see out into the tunnel, but I could certainly see evidence of the locomotive's sudden speed change as we passed by the lights that lit the tunnel.

"Come on," Frank's voice was suddenly further away and I looked up to see that he had started heading down the aisle.

Scrambling to my feet, I tried to follow the man as fast as my gelatin legs would allow me. Upon catching up to Frank, I could see he was messing with some electronic pad that was installed into the wall of the train. After pressing a few buttons, the man obviously found out something that was less than favorable and let out a curse.

"This isn't right at all. We're getting close to the end of the line, so we should be slowing down already."

"Coming to the end of the—you mean where the…"

"Yes, the giant concrete wall at the end of the tracks."

"And we're speeding up?"

"We probably only have a few minutes before…" Frank brought his fist into his hand and the simplistic demonstration was enough for me to paint my own more unpleasant picture.

"Won't the conductor stop the train?"

"There _is _no conductor," Frank let out a breath of frustration and I just stared at him blankly. "G-Corp installed an automated system on all of the trains a while back. They've proven to be reliable in the past, but obviously something's gotten messed up."

How could G-Corp leave so many people at the mercy of a mindless machine countless times every day? That company has had more than their fair share of "little mishaps" in the past, you'd think they'd learn from their mistakes! Not even an engineer to make sure that nobody oh, let's say—gets their gray matter sprayed across a concrete barrier as their bones get broken into a million pieces by metal wreckage!

"Well we can't just _stand _here!" I yell, "There hasto be _some_ _way_ of shutting down this speeding metal death-trap! An _emergency break _would be just dand—"

"That's it!" Frank exclaims as if he has just discovered oxygen was the best thing ever. "The emergency break! If I'm not mistaken, it's only one car up from here. Come on, let's go."

The two of us head into the next eerily empty car and after a quick scan, my eyes land on a red rectangle in the front. Rushing towards it, I pull down the lever…

Only to have the lousy piece of plastic to fall uselessly into my hand.

"Well isn't this just sunshine and lollipops?" I breathe instead of uttering the million curse words that fill my mind. I turn to Frank, presenting what was left of our hopes and dreams to continue having pulses for more than five minutes.

"Yeah… that's bad."

"Is that all you can say?" I yell, flinging my hand holding the emergency around in a way that I hope emphasizes my point. "We're about to be nothing more than a splat mark on a wall and all you can say is "That's bad"? Seriously?"

"Look, panicking isn't going to get us _anywhere_," Frank says despite the painfully obvious doubt etched on his features. Taking a few seconds, I can almost see his mind frantically grasping at any idea that comes to him. After a few moments that stretched into an eternity, Frank readjusts his glasses before looking back at me.

"We're going to have to split up."

"Split…" I trail off, not liking where this idea is going at all. I don't want to die alone in some metal death tube!

"I'll head to the back of the train and see about cutting the hydraulics or something. I need you to head to the front of the car and stop the train manually."

"Sounds like a great plan," I say with mock cheer, "except I _don't know how the hell to do that_."

"It's simple! All you need to do is hot wire the door console, get into the control car and pull the manual break level."

Simple? Yeah, for this boy-genius, apparently. But for mere mortals such as I whose wits are sufficiently scattered, this task seems just a little daunting.

"Here," Frank reaches into his pocket and places a small electronic device in my hand, "with this PDA I can mark the location of the door console that you need to hot wire and the manual break lever."

My first thought was how the hell a simple PDA could locate things on what was probably a patented design which G-Corp probably wanted to keep secret that easily. However, the second thought of my impending doom threw that inquiry out the window. Looking down at the piece of plastic, I grip onto it tightly and nod with grim determination.

"Alright," I say, looking back up at Frank, "I think I can do this."

"That's the spirit!" Frank says with a small smile as he claps me on the shoulder before turning to walk towards the back of the train. Pausing at the door to the next car, he turns to face me one last time. "I'll see you when we get off the train!" He says with a wave.

"You know it!" I shout back before turning to my own door. _Well, this is it_.

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**Author's Endnote: **Well… that turned out different than I expected it would. I wasn't expecting it to turn out this serious or this long… almost 4,000 words! Needless to say, I'm now stoked for the rest of this story and might be spending some sleepless nights on this baby.

So now the ball is in your court. You like it? Looove it? Want to cut out my entrails and sacrifice it to the Landshark because of how god-awful it is? Please, do tell me in a review!


	2. Soul Bound

**Author's Note: **Hello, my dear readers. I was simply overjoyed to receive two reviews and would like to thank Hikari Hellion and TwiDawnLight for their words of encouragement. Also, I would like to say something about my update schedule. There really is none at the moment, I'm mainly just posting things as they come and we'll see how this semester treats me since I'm taking 16 units (aka: lots of happy fun time at school). Fortunately, I'll be able to sneak in some work between classes and most of my Professors are cool with me taking notes on my computer so I can be extra stealthy and work on it during slow class lectures. Always a win.

Still un-beta'd, so any typos and general stupidity is my own.

Enjoy!

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**Chapter Two – Soul Bound**

Stumbling out onto the platform, could still feel every one of my nerves standing on end as the adrenaline continued to course through my veins. Looking over at the front of the train that I had just stumbled out of, I saw just how close I had been to being nothing more than an unidentifiable splat, flatter than a bug on a windshield and certainly more mangled. I heard the footsteps of someone approaching me and I looked up to see a train station attendant.

"Glad to see you in one piece," the man started, his hands remaining behind his back, "If that train hadn't stopped when it did, I'd be talking to you through a straw right now."

That statement alone was enough to make me blanch, all colour completely draining from my face as I just stared up at the man in disbelief. He said that so… nonchalantly. Is this guy always so upbeat or is he just stupid?

"Sorry," the man continued upon seeing my bewildered expression, "I'm just not that good with words."

_No shit_, I thought to myself as I attempted standing on my still shaky legs. Looking around the surrounding area, I saw that the station was eerily void of any human presence outside of the attendant and myself. Well, there was a woman from the Barton Guard standing towards the broken down escalators, however she was standing so still I almost thought of her as a statue. Barry produced a small clipboard from inside his jacket and quickly scanned the page.

"Anyways, I would like to welcome you to the Old Station on behalf of the Transit Authorities. My name is Barry and I would like to apologize for any inconvenience this ordeal has caused you." Inconvenience? Try mental anguish, buddy! "Let's just do a quick headcount to make sure everyone made it out…" The man, Barry, looked around the empty platform before turning back to his sheet and marking it with a single swipe of his pen. "One." Putting the clipboard and pen back into his coat, he looked at me and smiled. "Alright, looks like you're all present and accounted for."

"What about Frank?" I asked, "Did you see him leave the train?" Looking around the platform for myself, I saw that there was no sign of the bespectacled man from the train and suddenly felt very worried.

"Who's Frank?" The attendant looked at me strangely. "Oh! You mean Dani? She's over there," He pointed at the statue-like woman before chuckling to himself and leaning in to whisper, "You'd better not call her "Frank" to her face, though, or she'll tie you in a knot you won't forget."

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "No… there was definitely someone else on the train. He even helped me stop it… he also said that he had something important that he needed to tell me."

Barry suddenly looked very sympathetic as he gave me a firm clap on the shoulder, "I think you're confused from all of the excitement… headcounts don't lie. The log I have here says we only sold _one _ticket today and it was sold to someone named," He pulled out his log once more and scanned the name listed. "Eleanor. That's you, right?"

"Well, yes, that is me. However, I don't see how that could be possible because there _was _someone else on that train with me and his name was _Frank_." This was starting to get ridiculous. Barry silently regarded me for a moment, trying to figure out whether or not he should trust the crazy woman who just nearly died. For all he knew, hell—for all _I _knew—this "Frank" was nothing but a figment of my deranged imagination brought on by severe head trauma from the severe ass kicking I had received from that vampire! This _whole thing_ was just some fevered coma dream and I was in the hospital right now. That is the only way any of this would ever make sense…

"If what you're saying is true," Barry said evenly, "That means this "Frank" was riding without purchasing a ticket. And that would just not do. I'd tan his hide! Dani!" The guard's attention snapped to us, "Looks like we may have a freeloader! Come on, let's check the train."

With a quick nod, Dani strode over to the train and entered, followed closely by Barry. Only hesitating for a few seconds, I hopped back on the train and quickly headed to the back of the train, scanning every car for the elusive Frank. When I reached the last car and saw no one, I sank into the nearest benches and rested my head in my hands. There was no way, _no way _all of that could have been all in my head. Frank was too real; he knew things about this crazy situation that I'm sure even my subconscious could make up. It just wasn't that creative… I mean, "The Animated"? He gave me the PDA—the PDA! I _know _I didn't have a PDA when I woke up on that train!

Reaching into my pocket, I quickly pulled out the electrical advice. _Here's my proof I'm not insane_. I thought to myself as I ran my thumbs over the PDA's keypad. Snapping my head up when I heard the door to the car slide open, I saw Dani and Barry enter, neither of them looking as if they'd found anyone. Looking back down at the PDA, I gave it a tight squeeze as if to reassure myself in its realness before standing to meet the other two. "He left me this…" I say as I hand Barry the PDA. Looking at the small electrical device for a moment, the attendant hands it back to me.

"You keep it, it'll be more of a use to you than me. However, it would appear that your little friend has given us the slip."

I nod mutely as I accept the PDA and put it back into my pocket before passing the two concerned-looking civil servants and off the train. "You said this was the Old Station. I thought it was closed." I asked as Barry and Dani exited the train behind me.

"It is," Barry replied, "There's a new one, but you blew right by it on your way here due to your little mishap. If you want to get out of here, you'll have to brave the sewers."

He said that like the sewers were a terrifying thing to face. Disgusting, maybe, but it wasn't as if the sewage was something to be scared of. Besides, looking over to my left I saw the broken down escalators that served as a perfectly functional set of stairs. "Couldn't I just use the stairs?"

"Unfortunately, the doors up there are all chained up on account of the Animated." There we go with this Animated business again. How terrifying could living toasters be? Couldn't we just drop kick them and be done with it? However, being completely ignorant of the situation up to about a half hour ago, I suppose I couldn't really properly gauge the severity of this situation. For all I know, there could be thousands of Animated knives out there. Now _that _would be terrifying.

"Now I know it might not be the most glamorous route to take," Barry continued, "However, you either leave through those sewers, or you get mighty accustomed to my company."

Now that would truly be a fate worse than toasters harpooning Animated knives.

"Yeah… about that."

"I figured as much." Barry said as if I wasn't the first woman to say that in his life. "Just go talk to Dani, she'll have some supplies to help you out in the sewers. However, I would be careful, if I were you." I raise a brow in question. "Dani's got a history of going 'civic duty' on people."

I look over at the statue of a woman who had instantly returned to her post after helping Barry and I search the train. Something about her no-nonsense stance told me that Barry's warning was a valid one. What I wanted to know was what _equipment _I could possibly need to navigate my way through the _sewers. _

"Uh, thanks for the warning, I guess." I say as I bid farewell to Barry and walk over the Barton guard. "You're Dani, right?" The woman simply stared at me. "Uh… Barry told me to talk to you. Something about getting some equipment?"

"Well, you've come to the right place." The woman said with a small twitch of the lip that I assume was her version of a smile. Or grimace… really, being stationed here with a character like Barry could have elected either response. "Good job stopping that train, citizen. You had the two of us pretty worried for a second. Are you alright?"

"Physically, I'm as good as any could hope to be, but mentally…"

"Talking to Barry will do that." The two of us glance over at Barry who has started to hum to himself while he rocks back and forth on his heels. "He's been a little off since the trains went automatic. In fact, I don't even know what he's still doing down here." Now she's got me feeling sorry for the slightly socially inept man over on the other side of the platform. Must have been hard for G-Corp to suddenly decide he's obsolete.

"He's a good guy, smarter than he lets on." That still didn't say much about his intelligence, from what I could tell. "He's been a big help figuring out these rings. Speaking of which, have you been issued any rings yet?"

Today must have been some sort of 'Cause Mental Anguish and Confuse the Hell Out of Eleanor' Day, because so far I had quite possibly sustained mild head trauma, survived a near-death experience, and have had multiple hallucinations. That, and people keep providing me with fascinating tidbits that I feel would have been valuable to know a very long time ago. First the Animated, and now Rings? What the hell were these 'Rings' for? Was this the equipment that Barry mentioned earlier? How would a few fashion accessories aide me in getting out of the sewers. That just wasn't logical at all. Then again, logic seems to have died off as of this morning. I should hold a double funeral for it and my sanity.

"Actually… I would love to hear more about these rings since I have no idea what the hell you're talking about."

"Ordinarily I'd be giving you a lecture on the importance of being informed citizen," Dear all that is good in this world, please don't, "But the truth is, nobody really knows what's going on."

"Well that's certainly helpful."

"As far as anyone knows, not too long ago, random objects started coming to life: Hats, dolls, furniture… all kinds of stuff."

"The Animated."

That grimace-smile flickered across Dani's lips. "Very good, citizen. And here I was thinking I was dealing with a complete simpleton." Well gee, thanks for the glowing reassurance, "As I was saying, having the appearance of these Animated were weird enough on their own, but these things were also attacking people and multiplying like crazy."

Dear god, breeding knife-wielding toasters? That is absolutely more terrifying and mind screwing than I could have ever imagined!

"Nothing seemed to hurt these things. We tried stomping them, burning them… we did everything we could think of, but no dice. Luckily, G-Corp labtechs started handing out these special rings, so now we can fight back."

So it seems G-Corp was finally doing some good for once, and it wasn't cleaning up a mess that they made in the first place. That was good to know. "What do these magical rings do, exactly?"

"They look like normal rings" Dani held up her own hand for me to see that each of her fingers bore a ring, "but they pack some serious heat." Leaning forward to get a better look, I saw that each had a very unique design and they seemed to fit the guard's fingers perfectly as if they were made solely for her. There was also something odd about the way they gleamed, as if they had an energy contained within their intricately formed bands.

"They produce amazing effects," Dani continued, curling her fingers into a fist and returned it to her hip. "And best of all, they have the power to actually neutralize the Animated. I can't really explain it, so how about I just show you?"

"That'd be something I'd like to see," I admitted, unable to take my eyes off the strange rings.

"Why don't I give you a few, G-Corp supplied me with a bunch of rings to distribute to responsible citizens." Dani reached behind her and pulled out a small brief case and opened it to reveal the rings inside. Setting the brief case on top of a nearby trashcan, Dani scanned over the rings she had available before returning her attention back to me.

"We should probably get you something from the Boomers first."

"Uh… Boomers?"

"A 'Boomer' is a ring that makes stuff go 'boom'. Get it?" Oh, I got it, but I must say that was a stupid name for a set of rings. Did a fourth grader name these things? "With the way things are going out there, you'll probably be making a lot of stuff go boom." Lovely.

Urging me to come closer, I took a closer look at a collection of three rings. The first my eyes landed on had a small foot charm attached to a band completely formed out of warm coloured metals. The second was a simple gold band with two star bursts on it. And the last was a silver ring with sharp prongs on it.

Picking up the first ring, Dani described it as the "Hot Foot" ring. "This ring can be used from a moderate range to make your opponent's feet start sweating and blistering. This one," she picked up the golden band, "The Solar Rays ring focuses the light around you into a single, stinging beam that can be used to attack from a long range. And this," she picked up the final ring, "Is the Mantis. This little ring creates an animated katana out of thin air to attack your enemies."

Alright, that last one sounded far more bad ass than the first, although all of them had their fair share of awesome. There was just something about wielding a sword against thousands of animated toasters that sounded oh so appealing. "I think I'll take the Mantis." I say, confident in my choice.

Giving me a knowing look, Dani places the ring in the palm of my outstretched hand. "Good choice, citizen. Here, try it on."

Taking the Mantis ring, I slip it onto my left ring finger. At first, the ring is far too big, but before I can as how I'm supposed to keep it on, the band shrinks until it rests snugly, but comfortably on my finger. Instantly, I feel a spark of something flow through me that I know isn't mere excitement. This is probably a result of that strange glint I first noticed in Dani's rings. It's almost as if the ring and I were becoming one, if that made any sense.

"Ready to test drive your new ring?"

"Oh yeah," I reply eagerly, "What do I do?"

"First, you need to identify a target. I know this might seem basic, but you'd be surprised how many people accidently slice themselves on a new ring. How about trying one of those trash cans?"

Looking at the trashcan next to us, I focus on the target and raise my hand before casting it towards my target. I feel that same energy from before focus in the palm of my hand and suddenly a deadly sharp katana appears before me to strike the can. My eyes widen as the blade retracts into the ring and I feel myself smiling like an idiot.

"That was _so cool_!" I exclaim as I look at my own hand in disbelief. My excitement earns another smile/grimace from Dani along with a nod of approval.

"Now that you know how to aim, it's simple to focus your ring and attack. Go ahead and attack that trash can over by Barry," Dani pointed over at the trashcan that the attendant was standing by, "Don't worry, we'll take it out of Barry's paycheck."

"Hey!" Barry yelled, his attention brought back to reality. Letting out a harsh chuckle, Dani nodded her head once more in the direction of the can.

"Go on, beat that thing like a drum!" Rolling my eyes at the harsh woman's attempt at humor, I step forward to face my still opponent and once more cast my hand forward, concentrating my energy and…

_Shink!_

The trashcan rocks back and forth, obviously effected by my attacks. However, it takes a few more hits for me to destroy the thing completely and when the trashcan crumbles, I feel a small, but present sense of accomplishment.

"Good job, citizen!" Dani steps up behind me to give a congratulatory pat on the back.

"The name's Eleanor."

"Well then, Eleanor, if I were to be honest with you… you are a natural at this. In fact, how do you feel about the concept of civic duty, Eleanor?"

"…What exactly are you getting at here, Dani?" I ask warily, hoping she doesn't want me to sign up for the Barton Regulars. I mean, I respect those guys and all… but I'm just not cut out for that type of work. And don't even get me started on those clunky pieces of armor they have to wear all the time. Yikes.

"Well, to put it simply, we're in need of some help down here. Since we're so close to the sewers, well… some less-than savory things have become Animated down here." Oh dear god, please don't say…"Things that really shouldn't be found outside of a bathroom."

"I really don't like the direction this conversation is going," I interject frankly.

"All I'm saying is that I wish someone would get in there and wipe up that mess, so to speak." Is it just me or is that the worst word choice this woman could have used? _Wipe up_… that does _not _give one a pretty picture when dealing with pretty much anything, let alone in reference to certain hygienic products that should only reside in the bathroom… things that shouldn't even be able to move. "You see," Dani continues, either oblivious to my expression of disgust or choosing to ignore it, "I have to hold my post at these stairs, but if I could get some responsible citizen who's just been given a free ring to take care of this mess…"

"Do I really have a choice in the matter?"

"Of course you do!" Dani sounds affronted by the mere suggestion of her forcing me to do something against my will, "In our free society, all _able citizens_ my choose to serve the _greater good _in times of _crisis _and avoid being _branded as cowards _for the rest of their lives." Gee, way to lay it on thick, lady. "Look, I just need you to go in there and knock a few of those nasty things out before they cause trouble. What do you say, Eleanor? Ready to fulfill your societal responsibilities?"

Well when you put it like that…

"I suppose I'm ready as I'll ever be."

"Wonderful!" Dani beams at me with the pride of a woman who has just roused a citizen to go forth and eliminate a foe… a terribly, horrifically disgusting foe. "The sewers are right through that door behind Barry. Come talk to me when you've knocked out a few."

Turning to face the door that Barry stood by, I shrugged. Might as well get this thing over with now, right?

**-zomg-**

Oh god, oh gross, oh god… this is so disgusting. I'm covered in it… whatever _it _is. I don't even want to know, lest I be scared for life. There are no words in my learned vocabulary that can adequately describe how mentally scared I am right now. And don't even get me _started _on this… this _ooze. _Oh god.

"So, how ya doin' on those civic obligations, Eleanor?" Dani greets my sufficiently slimed form with a smile and I suddenly feel like smacking her is my true civic duty. She knew about those things out there—she _knew_—and still sent me out there. That little…

"Trust me," I somehow manage to spit out, "If I wasn't _serious _about our shared responsibilities to society, I hightly doubt I'd be in a sewer with an eccentric train conductor…" _And a psycho public servant. _I add mentally, barely registering the indignant cry from Barry at being called eccentric.

"Well, I suppose it doesn't matter now, I've killed those things… whatever they are."

"I've named them Peelungers," Barry says with a self-satisfied grin on his face. Both Dani and I just look at the man blankly before I shake my head at the man's oblivious idiocy.

"Well for what it's worth, I'm done 'wiping up' the mess in there."

"Good work. Most people are too squeamish to take action when things get this messy." While Dani might look down on such cowardice, I must admit I view these people as wiser than I at this moment. "Let's get you set up with another ring then, shall we?"

Dani once more opens her briefcase of rings and I feel my despair at being covered in sewer goo being quelled, if only slightly. Standing next to the guard, I notice her nostril flare in a disgusted manner at the stench radiating from my person and I mentally remind her that it's her fault I smell like this so she better get used to it. "Since you already have an attack ring," Dani starts as she scans over her ring selections, "it might be wise to get something that can help repair any damages you may suffer along the way."

"That would only seem logical." I reply as she pulls out the first of my choices, a ring that appears to be made out of a single Band-Aid.

"This here is the Bandage ring. It's great for healing when you aren't really in a hurry and it dose a more complete healing than its counterpart, the Diagnose," She holds up a second ring, one that has the appearance of a thick silver band with a bright green checkmark, "However, the Bandage only heals one target at a time while the Diagnose heals not only its bearer, but everyone around." Placing both rings back in the briefcase, she pulls out my last choice which looks more like a curled piece of bacon rather than something I'm supposed to wear on my finger. "This last one is the Meat ring. This'll increase your maximum health or the health of your target." Placing that ring back into the case, she looks back up at me. "So, which ring will it be?"

"I think I'll take the Diagnose." I say, liking the idea that I can have a ring that won't just benefit me, but others as well.

"Excellent!" Dani says as she places the ring in my waiting palm, "I hope it serves you well."

Placing the ring on the middle finger of my left hand, I watch as the ring conforms to my shape and feel the tingling feeling of a new energy flowing up my arm and throughout my body. Studying the new ring, I see the green checkmark pulsate with an inner light and feeling my own scrapes and bruises from my battles with the living plungers—or, Peelungers, as Barry so appropriately named them—and Place my palm on my chest before releasing my energy. Instantly, I feel the pain from my minor injuries ebb away and I marvel as I watch them disappear. That actually felt kind of—nice. Strange as hell and slightly invasive, but nice.

"Before you go out there again, I think I should warn you a little about pacing yourself. I'm sure as you've noticed; every time you use your rings you feel a small bit of energy leave you, right?"

I nod, "Yeah… a kind of tingling."

"Well that's because the rings tap right into your life force—Stamina—in order to work. If you keep using them without resting, you'll really sap your energy. If you completely wear yourself out, you won't be able to properly channel your energy to use your ring."

I nod, this made sense. Although I couldn't say for sure how crazy things were up on the surface, it was common sense to occasionally rest between heavy usage of the rings.

"Oh, and one more thing: as you fought those Peelungers, you might have felt a little bit of anxiety or possibly even fury. This is only natural and it can actually serve as an advantage to you. One of the most bizarre properties of these rings is how they have the ability to store these negative feelings and release the emotional energy on your opponents."

"These rings were going to mess with my emotions?" I was already having a hard enough time dealing with them on my own, there was no way I needed these things tampering with something as sensitive and private as that.

"It's the other way around, actually. You're emotions aren't tampered with by the rings, your emotions are what affect the rings. Whenever you use your rings or get hit by enemies, your rings will capture and utilize your combat stress. We in the Barton Regulars like referring to this as 'Rage' since it usually builds up in the heat of battle."

Dani went on to explain all the fascinating benefits of rage and my attention returned to the two glistening rings on my fingers. It was a strange thing to think about, the connection I now shared with these rings. It was as if my very soul and my fate were bound to them. I even felt as if I were to remove the rings now and put them back on later, the connection would remain the same. The more I thought about it, the stranger I felt as I wondered just what I would be able to do with these rings as I bettered my skills.

"Now that you're a little wiser in the ways of combat," Dani's voice suddenly interrupted my thoughts, "Ready to tackle something a little tougher?"

"I guess it's my civic duty." I reply, my own reservations leaking out into my tone. Just thinking about those Peelungers in the sewers, I was almost scared to ask just what this woman had in mind for me...

* * *

**Author's End Note: **Yeah, a slightly less exciting chapter, but next chapter we have some super special awesome new characters for you to meet and some rising conflict! So tune in next time for the exciting conclusion of the Tutorial! XD

Reviews, as usual, are lovely.


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